Wal-Mart Shareholders Celebrate with Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift in the Face of Mexican Bribery Scandal

Amid allegations that Wal-Mart’s top officials attempted to cover up a $24 million bribery scandal in Mexico, the world’s largest retailer celebrated its 50th anniversary with a shareholders meeting M.C.’d by Justin Timberlake this morning. During the event, held at the Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chairman Robson Walton promised shareholders that he would get to the bottom of the reported bribery: “Let me be clear. Acting with integrity is not a negotiable part of our business. We will do the right thing and the right way. You have my word on that.”

But the meeting wasn’t all serious talk! Host Justin Timberlake dressed in a grass skirt and Hawaiian lei (in tribute to the company’s founder, Sam Walton, who reportedly danced a hula on Wall Street after losing a bet), passed out coffee pots to employees, and led the crowd in the Wal-Mart cheer. Taylor Swift (!), Lionel Richie, the Zac Brown Band, and the a cappella gospel group Take 6 also took the stage before, according to some reports, Celine Dion shut the arena down with a performance of her own. Despite its decidedly cool entertainment line-up, the shareholders meeting began at the very unhip hour of seven a.m.